Auld Lang Syne
by Julian Chester
Summary: New Year's Eve is a time of for fresh starts. This is exactly what happens for Shinji and Asuka, with a little help from Robert Burns and the juice of the barley. One shot, complete, M for underage drinking and slight teenage fooling around.


Shinji came out onto the roof of the apartment building. A wind blew through his jacket, and he pulled it tighter around himself. There hadn't been snow in Japan below five thousand feet since before he was born, and even in December the days were usually warm, but at night, when the winds blew down from the north, a chill would settle on the land as a reminder of what true winter was like.

He saw Asuka leaning against the railings and grimaced. He didn't really want a confrontation now. He'd come up to the roof for some peace and quiet, not an angry rant. She'd been getting angrier lately, angrier and more short tempered. He couldn't understand her at all. It had been getting worse since the business with Unit-03 and the Fourteenth Angel. Not that he could blame her. That kind of thing was enough to give anyone sleeping problems; it certainly gave him plenty. And then there was that business with The Kiss, the Thing We Shall Not Speak Of...

He shook his head. He wasn't going to start anything. Anyway, why should he run away now? He had as much right to be here as she did. He just wouldn't provoke her. He walked up and stood next to her, leaning against the railing, a few feet from her.

He realized after a moment that lately his mere presence had been enough to provoke Asuka. "Hey Baka, what're you doing here?"

He gulped. "I just wanted some fresh air."

"Hmph. Whatever."

That was happening more and more often, too, the sudden shrug and refrain of "whatever." As much as Shinji hated it when Asuka yelled at him and called him names, he hated it even more when she seemed to sag in resignation and defeat. It was wrong. It went against everything that she was.

He suddenly realized that he was still staring at her and that she had noticed. He quickly said the first thing that came into his mind. "I also came up to see the New Year's Fireworks."

"Huh... so they have New Year's Fireworks here in Japan too? Well, that'll be something at least," Asuka replied, without sounding as though she were the least bit interested in fireworks.

Shinji actually did want to see them. It was his first time seeing fireworks for New Years. The town where he had been raised had been too small for such things, and he didn't remember any of the New Years celebrations from before his father had sent him away... from before his mother had died. All his memories of New Years centered around going to the nearest Buddhist temple and ringing a bell. He'd actually just gotten back from doing it. He wasn't 100% sure if Kaji really was dead, but he thought that whether he was dead or not, the man probably needed a prayer or two sent his way. There had been many other prayers Shinji had made, as well. He hadn't been a religious man when he came to Tokyo-3, and in many ways he still wasn't. But he did feel a sense of responsibility - a sense of the results of what he had done, and what he hadn't done, a sense of the lives that had been changed by his own actions.

He was broken out of his reverie by Asuka. "Hmph, makes sense that Misato would go to a New

Years Eve party and leave us. I guess we're just children after all."

That really disturbed Shinji. He had never heard Asuka refer to herself as a child, much less putting herself on an equality with him. For her it was like admitting the greatest defeat possible. He quickly decided to try and change the topic, but mostly only succeeded in babbling. "Well, the New Year is supposed to be a time to make changes, to reflect on what happened over the last year and decide what went well and what didn't, and what to do about it... a time to forgive, a time to mend, a time of rebirth..."

He trailed off, thinking that he must have sounded like a total dork... but to his surprise, Asuka didn't snap at him. He risked a glance at her and saw her staring off into the distance. "A time of rebirth, huh... it'd sure be nice, to be able to be reborn. I don't think it's possible though."

An uncharacteristic stubbornness awoke in Shinji. This really wasn't like her, and it really was bothering him. "Why not?"

"It's just impossible," she said, turning aside.

He frowned. Then, a sudden thought occurred to him. He shrunk back from it. It was mad. He couldn't believe that such a thing had even occurred to him. And yet it held some appeal, and if it got Asuka back to acting like her old self, even if it meant getting kicked around more often... he had to admit he liked that better than this sullen, unreactive quietude. "Wait here," he said, "I'll be right back."

She looked at him oddly, but didn't move as he left.

When he returned, he was holding a bottle of Misato's best scotch in one hand, and carrying two glasses in the other. She narrowed her eyes and snapped at him, "What the hell is that for, baka?"

"For drinking, of course. In Japan there's another custom around the New Year. It's called 'Bounenkai,' or 'forget the year party.' It's a time to get drunk and forget about all the lousy stuff that happened in the last year. I thought you wouldn't mind drinking, since you already think of yourself as an adult."

"Baka, what about you?"

Shinji almost folded and ran to return the scotch to its cabinet. Almost. "I decided that since I'm apparently old enough to fight and die for humanity, then I'm old enough to have some scotch."

"And how am I supposed to know you won't try and get me drunk and take advantage of me?"

"Asuka, I think we both know how that fight would turn out."

"Hmph. Whatever, pour me a glass then."

He poured, and they both sat and gulped. They both sputtered and coughed; the stuff felt raw and acrid in their mouths, since they weren't used to it at all. Pride kept them both from quitting, and they began to sip rather than gulp, and presently they got used to the taste, and after the first glass was done, they found that it had started to grow on them. And so Shinji poured them each another glass, and it was about this time that the fireworks started.

Shinji suddenly became aware that Asuka was humming something. It sounded familiar. "What is that?" he asked, suddenly.

"I'm not sure," she said quietly, "It's something I remember from my childhood. A New Year's Party... the last one my mother was there for... I remember we were all singing this song."

"Keep humming it. It sounds familiar."

She went on, to his surprise, and he finally placed it. In Japan, it was called "Hotaru no Hikari," but he seemed to remember that it was called something else in English...

"Give me another glass, baka," she said, but without any of the usual bite, "I think I could remember it if you poured me another."

He briefly wondered if another glass was a good idea; he dimly recalled an aphorism about sake, about the man drinking the first glass, the second glass drinking the first glass, and the third glass drinking the man. But that was sake, after all, and this was scotch. The two were completely different, right? He poured another one for both of them.

Asuka sipped at it, and kept humming the tune between sips, and Shinji kept trying to remember the lyrics for "Hotaru no Hikari," and trying to remember what it had been called in English. Suddenly, Asuka began singing, softly at first, and louder as she went along. Shinji had never realized how beautiful her voice was.

When she finished, he was staring at her again, but he found he couldn't look away. He dimly realized that not only was he drunk, he was too drunk to care what would happen when he kept staring at her. "That was beautiful, Asuka, but I've no idea what it meant. It sounded like English, but not English."

"That's cuz it wasn't. I think it was Scots, since the song was originally in Scots and my grandfather was Scots. Funny, drinking scotch while singing a Scots song."

"I don't even know what it means, but it sounded wonderful."

"Of course it was, I was singing it," she said with a smile, and drained the last of her glass. "It's a song about remembering days gone by, and not forgetting the past or the old friends you haven't seen in a long time... about two old friends who were separated, but have met each other again."

For a time all Shinji could do was stare in wonder. Then he gathered himself, and said, "Well then, let's drink a last glass to that," filling the glasses once more. "To friends forever, never mind the time or distance!"

They clinked their glasses, and downed half each in one swig. They coughed a bit again, and Shinji felt his face burning up, but he went on anyway. "To Asuka Langley Soryu, my friend."

It wasn't until after they clinked their glasses and the whisky was down his throat that it occurred to Shinji that Asuka might not take kindly to him declaring himself her friend. To his surprise, she didn't protest.

It was very difficult getting back to their apartment. There was much staggering, tripping, dragging, and arms around the shoulder. A secret part of Shinji would very much have liked to carry Asuka on his back, but that was madness; she was taller than he was, and near as heavy, and he wasn't a particularly athletic specimen. Still, the thought kept coming back to him, of carrying her on his back, of her legs wrapped around his waist and his arms holding up her thighs, her arms resting on his broad shoulders, and her soft, soft breasts pressing into his back, and her smooth legs in his hands -

Danger. Dangerous thoughts. He tried to shove them away, but found they refused to be shoved. Asuka didn't notice, though.

They finally made it to their apartment. It felt like they had been trying to get there for hours. He helped Asuka to her own room, and intended to simply lay her down in her bed, but in the doing of it, he managed to tumble down next to her. For a moment, he couldn't do anything, and then began to attempt to get up, only to have Asuka's surprisingly strong grip fasten around one of his arms.

"Don't do that," she said sweetly. "Why bother wasting the energy moving to your own bed when you're already lying down?"

He had no answer to that. Finally, he said, "Well, I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you -"

"Bah," she grumbled, and pulled him down. "I'm tired of lying. Tired of saying no to myself. For once, I want to do what I really want to do, and not what I tell myself I want to do, or what I think I want to do."

"Uh, Asuka, that didn't make sense."

"Of course it didn't make sense, baka," she said, but there was no edge to it, but rather... warmth? "I'm drunk. And when people are drunk, they say things that don't make sense. You've lived with Misato long enough that you should know that by now. But sometimes," she went on, slurring her words, "when you're drunk is the only time you actually do make sense. Sometimes when you're drunk is the only time you can really tell the truth. That's what I read, and apparently it's true, because the truth is, Shinji, I like you a lot."

"I - you - what?"

"You heard me," she pouted, "I reaaaaaaaally like you a lot, baka-Shinji. I have since I met you. Why do you think I teased you all the time? I never did that to that stupid jock or that stupid nerd... and I hated myself for falling love with such a total wimp, and for having my bacon saved by a total wimp. And as a matter of fact, I was really mad at you. Why didn't you hold me?"

"Hold you?"

"You know what I mean!" she screeched, and for a moment the violence was back. It disappeared again just as quickly as it came. "When we kissed, you didn't hold me. You didn't do anything. Why didn't you?"

"Be-because you were holding my nose shut. And because I was too shocked. I mean, that was the first time I'd ever kissed anybody, and I was finally having my first kiss and I couldn't breathe and I was kissing you and I couldn't breathe and it was amazing and I couldn't breathe and I couldn't believe that I was kissing the girl that I couldn't get out of my mind, and - and I couldn't breathe," he finished lamely.

They were silent for a long time. "So you couldn't get me out of your head, huh?"

"It was impossible."

She was silent for some time. "Well," she finally said, "why don't you kiss me now and make up for that horrible experience?"

"Just don't breathe through your nose this time."

"How am I supposed to just stop breathing?"

"Well alright, don't blame me when your breath tickles my nose and I sneeze in the middle of our kiss..."

"Shut up," Shinji said, and leaned over and kissed her.

It was pretty clumsy, like the first one had been, but it was better. Either she was too tired to close his nose shut or she actually listened to him for once. It went on for a long time, and somehow by the end of it his arms had found their way around her, and hers had done the same.

The adrenaline finally dumped, and Shinji felt an overpowering exhaustion. "Asuka," he mumbled, "I'm way too tired to get to my own bed now. Do you mind if I just stay here with you?"

"Of course I don't mind," she said. "This room is too big for just one person."

"Thanks, Asuka," he replied, and almost unconsciously, his hand began to wander.

"Shinji?"

"Yes?"

"I know we just kissed, and I know I said you can spend the night with me, but I never said you can feel my ass."

"Oh."

"There's got to be something left for us to do tomorrow, right? Besides, I'd like to be sober for that..."

"Right," he said, as he pulled his hand back to her shoulders.

They lay there for a few minutes, in each other's arms, too tired to sleep and too drunk to stay awake. Finally, Shinji said something. "It's funny, but I finally realized it."

"What?"

"What I'd been missing all this time. I would always find myself sprawling out on my bed, lying on my side with my arms stretched out, whether I was going to sleep or waking up. I never understood why I did that, but now I understood that I was missing something."

"Someone to share with?"

"Yeah... that exactly."

"Hmm," she murmured, and snuggled up closer to him as he held her tighter.

The last thing either of them heard was Asuka's drunken, mumbled singing:

_Should auld acquaintance be forgot,_

_And never brought to mind,_

_Should auld acquaintance be forgot,_

_And auld lang syne?_

_For auld lang syne, my dear,_

_For auld lang syne,_

_We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,_

_For auld lang syne!_

Misato woke up hammered. She'd had to be carried back indoors by Ritsuko. Not her ideal way of being delivered back home, but there's only so much you can do.

She didn't notice anything out of joint until after she'd showered, brushed her teeth to get the taste of booze and vomit out of her mouth, guzzled a half gallon of water (this hangover was too fierce even for the hair of the dog that bit her), and consumed half a dozen eggs and several rashers of bacon. She was no cook, but she could do breakfast, for breakfast was the most important meal for a booze-hound; particularly if it was a breakfast that helped cure hangovers.

She noticed it as she was putting away her plate. Her bottle of scotch was lying on the counter, and it was half empty. That couldn't be right, she'd just bought it recently, and she wouldn't even be awake yet if she had put away half of it by herself after the amount of alcohol she had consumed the night before at the party. Then she realized how unusual it was for her to have gone through her whole morning routine in complete and total silence.

There was no one stirring in the house. No noise from other people, no signs that anyone else was awake at all. Normally, Shinji would have been awake by now, cooking in the kitchen. It had been ages since she had cooked her own breakfast. Asuka would have been awake by now as well; she probably would have been the first one up, banging on Shinji's door demanding he feed her. The noise of the two of them would have woken Misato up, and she would have lurched, zombie-like, out of her bedroom and towards the kitchen if Asuka had already claimed the bathroom, and the bathroom if she hadn't.

But none of that had happened. The silence was so perfect that she could have heard a pin drop.

And the half empty bottle of scotch was still staring at her.

She kept staring at it for some time, her mind trying to make sense of the fact of the half empty bottle and the completely silent apartment. After about three minutes, it came to her. "Oh shit," was all she could say.

She started to run, tripped, and fell. Cursing, she got up, and then walked, slowly and silently, towards the bedrooms. She cracked open Shinji's door and peaked inside. Nothing. The bed hadn't been slept in at all. She crept down the remaining portion of the hallway, feeling like a thief in her own home, and set her hand on the door, wanting to open it and fearing what she would see. Finally she edged it open and took a glance.

There, lying wrapped in each other's arms, were Asuka and Shinji. Misato was half surprised, half relieved, and half terrified. After a moment though, she saw they both still had all their clothes on, so things hadn't gone that far. And more importantly, as she looked more closely she saw that they both looked... happy? They looked as though they had been clinging to each other in their sleep. Yes, Misato knew a lot about people who did that.

She decided to close the door quietly. She didn't want to embarrass them or ruin the moment.

Author's Notes: This is just a quick and dirty one-shot that I wrote in the night between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in the morning. It's not particularly well thought out, or edited, or anything, but I wanted to post it up anyway. It's been forever since I actually completed a story, and I thought it better to just get it out there, particularly to get it out there while it was still New Year's Day somewhere in the world.

"Auld Lang Syne" is, of course, a very famous song written (or collected, depending on who you ask) by the great Scottish poet Robert Burns. It is traditionally sung on New Year's Eve, and has been for many years now. It is a popular song the world around; there really is a Japanese version. It's not particularly obvious, but the version that Asuka is remembering and singing is the Scots version of the song, which is somewhat different than the English; I personally like the sound and feel of the Scots better, which is why I chose it.

I don't think I'm particularly far off in assuming that Asuka's father's family is of at least partial Scottish descent. Scotland is famous for its redheads, after all, and red hair, alas, is a recessive gene, so Asuka can't have gotten it all from Kyoko. Besides, the Scots are just as fierce and proud a people as the Germans, which certainly is in keeping with Asuka's character.

Scotch whisky is the most popular kind of whisky in Japan. Whisky distilling dates to the latter years of the Meiji period, when Japanese brewers traveled to Scotland to learn how to make it. When you drink Suntory, you are drinking scotch. And yes, Shinji, whisky is different from sake, but it's stronger, not weaker. I'm pretty sure that aphorism he remembered is a real thing too.

I'm playing rather loose with the timeline here. This is set after the 14th Angel but before the 15th. Asuka's wheels were loose before that, but after the 15th they came flying off and she fell to pieces.

Bounenkai, or "forget the year parties," are a real thing in Japan. People from the same department at work (usually) get together around New Year's and get completely and thoroughly trashed in order to forget about all the bad things that happened in the last year. It's not uncommon for one person to attend several of them in the days leading up to New Year's Eve. Misato is probably at the NERV bounenkai this evening, and this is why she's so trashed that she didn't start the day with a beer. 2015 had been pretty shitty year for Misato, and there's no doubt she'd want to forget a lot.

I hope you've enjoyed reading this.


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